]]>http://sci-bc.ca/recipes-and-nutrition/thai-carrot-soup/feed/0Is There a Place for a Canadians with Disabilities Act?http://sci-bc.ca/news-and-blog/is-there-a-place-for-a-canadians-with-disabilities-act/
http://sci-bc.ca/news-and-blog/is-there-a-place-for-a-canadians-with-disabilities-act/#commentsWed, 29 Jul 2015 00:07:16 +0000http://sci-bc.ca/?p=13076The Americans with Disabilities Act marked its 25 anniversary this week. So, is it finally time for a Canadians with Disabilities Act—and what should that look like?

The Americans with Disabilities Act marked its 25 anniversary this week. So, is there finally a place for a Canadians with Disabilities Act? And if so, what should that even look like?

Nothing captures the powerful history of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)—and the advocates’ role in its development—like a series of famous black and white photographs. The images shows people with disabilities abandoning their wheelchairs and mobility devices, crawling up the stairs of the U.S. Capitol in protest of the delayed passage of the ADA. Although the act had been passed by the Senate a year earlier, in 1990 it had hit a wall in House of Representatives and had yet to be voted through. So activists took to the Capitol—in any way they could—determinately chanting “ADA now!” and “Vote! Now!”

This past Sunday, July 26, marked the 25th anniversary of that Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), one of the most prominent anti-discrimination legislative acts in the U.S. history. Finally passed in 1990, the ADA prohibited discrimination for persons with disabilities in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation.

The history of the ADA is one of disability advocacy that has grown and strengthened as the fight to have the ADA passed intensified. The law is the expression of the voices of people who were invisible and disregarded by U.S. politicians.

George Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Today, the ADA is commended for advancing the rights of and providing access to individuals with disabilities. But it has also been criticized for, among other things, its failure to address high poverty and unemployment rates among people with disabilities. In fact, disability advocates emphasize that as much as we need to celebrate the success of the ADA, we should also remember how much work still lies ahead.

Although the discussion around the need for Canada to adopt a similar federal legislation for Canadians with disabilities has been raised before, the debate is far from over. While in America the ADA adopted an anti-discrimination approach, north of the border we did things a little differently. Instead of making disability the basis for policy-making, Canada incorporated it into universal legislative acts such as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as other policy instruments that focus on specific topics (taxes, income assistance, employment, etc.). The Canadian Disability Policy Alliance developed a list of the legislative acts in Canada pertaining to disability and referred to them as “a patchwork of multiple tools employed in multiple policy areas.”

Canadian political scientist Michael J. Prince[1] found the Canadian disability movement to have three different attitudes towards an omnibus law (or all-encompassing Disability Act).

One group of people does not support it on the grounds that such legislation may ghettoize disability as a social policy area. They fear that it will undermine the division of responsibilities between federal and provincial governments and that such law risks sidestepping the Charter of Rights and human rights guarantees.

A second group tends to be ambivalent about this law. They express concern that the government will treat such law as a major response to the needs of people with disabilities and use it as an excuse for future inaction. Yet this group also agrees that in close consultation with disability groups across the country, a Disability Act could improve access and inclusion, if modestly.

Finally, a third group supports the law and believes that it can energize the movement, raise public awareness, and help forge alliances.

Regardless of these disparate attitudes, a law that arose as a result of daring acts of civil resistance, like the ones captured in the black and white photographs, deserves our attention and respect—in spite of the law’s many imperfections.

However, no federal legislation can or could guarantee that such a law is truly comprehensive. To start with, the category of “disability” proved hard to define, leaving us with an array of definitions that range from purely diagnostic to more socially oriented. Definitions matter because they determine how the law will be interpreted. In the case of the U.S., courts kept contesting the definitions of disability, ultimately blurring the original intent of the ADA.

Even within the disability community there are groups that benefit from a certain disability legislation more than others.

Even within the disability community there are groups that benefit from a certain disability legislation more than others. The nature of anti-discrimination laws, employment services, and income support is such that they vary in their coverage of people by types of disabilities. Thus, people with mobility impairments rated the effectiveness of the ADA higher than the individuals with visual or hearing impairments.

An Easter Seals poster reminds employers to set aside their prejudices following the option of the ADA.

Based on the history of the USA and Canada, a Canadian version of the federal law would look different, and disability advocates and politicians would have to answer some tough questions before any sort of federal legislation could be considered:

What is the definition of disability?

How do we make sure the law is inclusive?

Do we want a law based on the principles of anti-discrimination or a law that focuses on broader principles such as public awareness, promotion of universal design, and accessibility?

How will the federal and the provincial/territorial authorities be divided?

How do we ensure enforcement and sustainability?

How do we incorporate existing laws that pertain to disability?

Ultimately, the technical provisions of such a law are not enough to fulfill the promise of an entirely inclusive country. Embedded in the law should be a bigger message that people with disabilities are entitled to personal choice and control of their lives. What shape that message has is a secondary issue.

Embedded in the law should be a bigger message that people with disabilities are entitled to personal choice and control of their lives.

A unified federal law could certainly be an attempt at consolidating today’s fragmented policies and at addressing a key question: what does it mean to have “disability” move beyond purely medical or welfare-based definitions? It is important to align concepts with solutions. In other words, if “disability” is defined purely in medical terms, such a model doesn’t raise the question of justice, nor does it emphasize the rights of people with disabilities[2]. A truly successful disability policy needs to provide an interpretation of the general goals of respect and participation whether in the U.S. or maybe, someday soon, in Canada.

[1] Prince, M. J. (2010). What about a disability rights act for Canada? Practices and lessons from America, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Canadian Public Policy / Analyse De Politiques, 36(2), 199-214. doi:10.3138/cpp.36.2.199

After years of collaboration and planning, one of the world’s greatest natural and cultural wonders is now infinitely more accessible. SCI BC’s Accessibility Specialist Glenys SnowDymond guides us through Naikoon Provincial Park, the important notions of universal design and thematic access, and her own deep-rooted connection to accessibility in Canada’s parks and wilderness.

There’s a place on the edge of tomorrow, on the Isles that are called Haida Gwaii. Where the trees reach up towards the heavens, whales blow, eagles soar in the sky.

These lands are sacred to many, first people of culture and clan. Revealed to the world through the hand, voice and brush, of the carver, the painter, and man.

Haida Gwaii (previously known as the Queen Charlotte Islands) is a string of islands located on the western-most edge off the coast of British Columbia. Home of the Haida Nation, it’s a land of unique creatures and habitat, where giant cedars rise like totems of light, shrouded with greens and golds, nourishing the heart and soul. It’s a world of revered landscapes and sacred territory to the indigenous peoples who have lived here for thousands of years. These isles form an archipelago of jewels in the crown of Canadian environments and tourism.

And now, an important part of them has become infinitely more accessible.

Accessing the Inaccessible

Thanks to an agreement between Old Massett Village Council (OMVC) and the Province of BC—and recent work to honour that agreement—the lush, remote areas in the islands’ Naikoon Provincial Park are now globally accessible to all, whether on foot or by chair, carried or self-propelled, or accessing the views remotely via touch screen. With extended wooden boardwalks, the sacred forests and shores are now wheelchair accessible. High-contrast interpretive panels are also read in braille. A talking welcome sign even speaks aloud. And, those who can’t make the trip out can now explore the area virtually, via a fully-accessible interactive online website.

Whichever way you visit, it’s a land worth exploring. Located at the northeast tip of Graham Island (the northern of two islands), west of Hecate Strait and due south of Alaska, BC Parks’ Naikoon Provincial Park is a vast expanse of ocean, beaches and old growth rainforest. The Park lies in the traditional territory of OMVC, and is inherently important for social, cultural, health, food gathering, economic, and environmental preservation.

OMVC and the Province of BC have a signed agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding, regarding this and other sacred Conservancy and BC Parks areas on Haida Gwaii. This agreement is committed to “working closely together to maximize opportunities to develop appropriate and accessible facilities with the Parks and Conservancies on Haida Gwaii”—to accommodate all people of varying abilities by acknowledging the right for everyone to access the sacred lands, and experience the environment for culture, education, family activities, recreation, and health and well-being.

This is where I come in.

Understanding Nature

As a Universal Access/Barrier Free Design consultant, with a history of life and work in Parks Canada, I know the value of our natural wonders and wilderness. I’ve worked in the Canadian Rocky Mountain National Parks as an interpreter and naturalist, and served as an advisor during the National Disabled Access Program. And, well before then, I grew up in and around these very parks, living and breathing and taking strength from the great outdoors.

In the mid-50s I contracted polio as an infant in Jasper National Park, and grew up as a polio survivor living in one of Canada’s most pristine, pure, natural areas. During my times of institutional care and rehabilitation I clung to the images and sense of peace I experienced when I was able to be home with my family in our little town in the Rockies.

Spending hours in the hot pools and nature—carried, driven, lain, in the places that heal the soul as well as the body—provided me with a base understanding that the earth and all of its splendors must be accessible for all people. This fueled my passion to help provide access to Canada’s natural and wild places and landscapes, a commitment implemented in Naikoon Provincial Park, with the Tow Hill Blowhole Boardwalk and Virtual Hike.

In 2010, I was introduced to BC Parks’ and OMVC’s Tow Hill Blowhole Boardwalk project. I was part of a team commissioned to secure support and funds, and to assist with the plans and design of the Boardwalk. The Boardwalk, along with interpretive components, became a focal activity for all of us over the next four years.

Creating Access

BC Parks’ and OMVC’s goal was to develop a boardwalk extension to reach beyond the existing 600m boardwalks in the forest at the edge of the land, travelling to the ocean’s edge and bluff, overlooking the Blowhole at the base of Tow Hill. Today, the total trail and boardwalk from the parking area to the Bluff is 1km.

While planning we agreed that access is more than providing accessible picnic sites, benches, outhouses, and parking.

Today, the Welcome Sign at the Boardwalk entrance incorporates two Totems, replicating the legendary characters of Taaw Sdang and his brother. Spinal Cord Injury BC (SCI BC) is noted on the bronze plaque (also cast in braille) as one of the primary organizations endorsing the Tow Hill Blowhole Boardwalk, along with others who supported the project.

Interpretive panels, relaying cultural, environmental and historic messages, were designed to include colour contrasts and braille. What’s more, they contain cast images you can read with your fingertips.

A four-track solar-panelled talking sign conveys a Haida Welcome, a Haida song, and the legend of the Big Spider, with additional information pertaining to the area. It is installed close to the beginning of the boardwalk, by the picnic area and the Hiellen River.

Tow Hill, a large basalt spire jutting out of the ocean, is a very important feature in the Park. The viewpoint at the top provides unsurpassed views of the Strait, the bog, and Rose Spit.

A Virtual Hike

Although boardwalks to the top exist, they are not easily accessible for everyone (the hike to the top of Tow Hill still contains stairs.) Thus, with a commitment to providing “thematic access” to bring the experience of the top of Tow Hill to the fingertips of all, a virtual hike was designed.

“Thematic access” makes it possible for all people to experience the theme or essence of an area that cannot easily be made available for people with limitations that impede them from going there. Canada’s Human Rights Charter states that all people have the right of access, thus thematic access is provided in places like this, to allow everyone to reach the summit of Tow Hill.

Understanding that this area has great significance to the Haida Nation and is the seat of important myths and legends, it was essential to present the virtual hike in an appropriate manner for the Haida people and the global community.

One section of the Boardwalk goes to the top of Tow Hill while the lower level continues, flowing through the forest—tranquil, interesting, exhilarating—travelling beside the Hiellen River Estuary.

On the east side of the Hiellen River, Old Massett Village Council has built the Hiellen Longhouse Village.

This culturally-appropriate eco-tourism, health and conference centre is still under development. Currently, you’ll find access to the main meeting Longhouses, with modest access to the accommodation longhouses. Discussions ensue to develop universally accessible accommodations.

Together with BC Parks and OMVC, we have crafted these accessible features in this remote area of Canada to accommodate nature-lovers, travellers, and modern-day explorers who strive to venture into this awesome land and experience the Haida culture and environment.

Please check out the Virtual Hike and websites. Live your life for health and adventure. And, whether you visit Naikoon Provincial Park in person or enjoy its many splendors onscreen, always be free to marvel and explore.

]]>http://sci-bc.ca/news/haida-gwaii-opens-wheelchair-friendly-boardwalks-and-virtual-hike/feed/3Why Tolerance and Patience Are the New X-Ray Visionhttp://sci-bc.ca/news-and-blog/super-voices/
http://sci-bc.ca/news-and-blog/super-voices/#commentsFri, 12 Jun 2015 00:18:53 +0000http://sci-bc.ca/?p=12902New Realwheels community theatre production, Super Voices, shines spotlight on unique superpowers in the disability community. See it June 12 and 13, 2015!

New Realwheels community theatre production, Super Voices, shines spotlight on unique superpowers in the disability community

Photo: The Georgia Straight

Move over web spinning, invisibility, and shapeshifting. In real life, sometimes the greatest superpowers are the most understated.

That’s the notion behind Realwheels Theatre’s latest community project, Super Voices. The show, produced by Rena Cohen and directed by Jeffrey Renn, runs this Friday and Saturday at the Roundhouse Performance Centre. Staged within a landscape of professional projections, the dazzling multimedia performance features stories and talents from the disability community. And, capes and fireballs aside, it brings to light the awesome powers that often come as second-nature to people with disabilities: from superhuman patience and compassion, to resilience and alternate forms of communication.

“A sinister villain possesses people’s souls, trapping them in technological limbo. It’s up to our Super Voices crew to unleash their unique superpowers to release the innocent captors. With compassion, tolerance and patience, and some zany adventures along the way, they unite to conquer evil! —REALWHEELS

This latest show is the third Wheel Voices community project conceived, workshopped and staged by Realwheels Theatre, whose mandate is to deepen the understanding of the disability experience. (Previously, Wheel Voices to the Max! and Wheel Voices Live! were standout successes.) The niche Vancouver-based theatre company, founded by local actor James Sanders, who lives with quadriplegia, unites the disability community with professional artists for a series of workshops, culminating in an annual live performance.

“The concept behind Wheel Voices is that there are a lot of opportunities for people with disabilities to engage in sports—you’ve got wheelchair basketball, adaptive sports and so on—but there aren’t a lot of opportunities to engage in the arts, and very little in terms of performing arts,” says Cohen, Managing Director of Realwheels. “So that’s where we’ve stepped in: we’re providing experiences in the performing arts to help fill the gap in both exposure to performing arts and training opportunities for people who are serious about developing themselves as artists in the community.”

These days, Realwheels, a not-for-profit, relies on a small team—Cohen, Renn, and Communications Director Lindsey Adams—to help move the collaborative community projects from idea phase to exceptional, professionally-staged productions.

“We don’t want audiences to have the experience that somehow watching our community projects is in any way a compromise,” says Cohen.

For Super Voices, the company worked with award-winning projections designer, Jamie Nesbitt, integrating stunning visual projections with live theatre. Honing in on the superpowers that people with disabilities possess, Super Voices moves “beyond the typifying of people with disabilities as objects of pity or mere sources of inspiration.” The show deconstructs clichés with confidence, creativity and a bit of comedy, too.

For audiences of Wheel Voices projects, this vital insight into the lived experience of disability makes it both less alien and alienating, and emphasizes common ground. And for performers, Wheel Voices is exactly that—a real voice, an unabashed authenticity, in a safe, encouraging environment. “It’s a lot about overcoming fears and insecurities,” says Cohen. “To perform in front of an audience, especially if it’s based on your own story, that’s a huge confidence booster.”

Playing into participants’ individual talents—from narrative skills to innate comedic timing—Wheel Voices gives participants the opportunity to explore their own stories and develop their acting skills. But, perhaps, it’s the collaborative experience of the workshops, where participants hone communication skills, build trust and create social ties, that translates best into the real world.

“It’s incredible,” says Adams. “People that literally didn’t want to go outside are now going out to movies—they’re feeling so much more confident, and so heard as part of a community of other people that are supportive of them and encouraging them. They’re making new friends and being more social.”

These days, Wheel Voices participants (past and present) are celebrating a variety of their own successes, from book launches, to stand-up comedy gigs and video projects. They’re defying stereotypes, and inspiring audiences to embrace inclusion of disability on stage and, more importantly, off stage.

“Most of [the Super Voices] stories have been based in real experiences,” says Cohen. “But we’re a theatre company, so we’re trying to train the artists to understand how an audience is impacted by all kinds of information—what makes a good story arc, where the dramatic arc of the story really resides, and when to let the other parts go. Often we start with telling personal stories, but certainly there’s embellishment and there’s creativity.”

In Super Voices, it’s clear that storytelling is a superpower in itself. And it’s also the legacy of Realwheels’ founder James Sanders, who is currently on leave from the company to focus on his health and his family. After all, it was Sanders who always said, “Never let the truth to get in the way of a good story.”

Super Voices plays Friday, June 12 at 7:00pm and Saturday, June 13 at 4:00pm at the Roundhouse Performance Centre (181 Roundhouse Mews). ASL interpretation and audio description are offered for the June 13th performance.

Spring is the early wine tour season in British Columbia, and there’s no reason you can’t enjoy a sampling of our province’s best wines right in the beautiful places they’re made. Get planning and get out there. Guest blogger and travel agent David Lyons-Black helps you ease the travel headache and focus on what really matters—drinking wine!!!

Source methods of travel that work for you:

Avoid tour buses. They tend to lack accessibility features such as lifts, storage for chairs, and kneeling capability for easier access to stairs.

Consider a limousine service that supports travelers by assisting with luggage, wheelchair stowing and transferring from the chair into the limo. This also ensures you have a built-in designated driver!

Go self-guided. Use your own transportation (vehicle, motorcycle, etc) and designated driver. This is probably your best bet as you’ll be familiar with accessibility features and creature comforts. A car or van rental may also meet your needs and might make your tour a real party!

Following these helpful tips can only enhance your experience and make your wine tour a worry free vacation without spending crazy dollars. Have questions or need more information? David has traveled extensively—around the world and in BC—and would love to talk to you. You can contact him here or call our InfoLine at 1-800-689-2477 for more tourism information.

With 24 countries travelled, many as a tourist in a wheelchair, David Lyons-Black is excited to share travel news, tips and tricks that will take you from armchair wanna be traveller to a well-travelled real adventurer—barrier free! Developing a long term relationship with his clients is key to fulfilling their travel dreams and adventures. Visit David’s travel website and blog here.

]]>http://sci-bc.ca/accessible-travel/essential-checklist-accessible-winery-tour-vacation/feed/0Rise and Dine Smoothiehttp://sci-bc.ca/recipes-and-nutrition/rise-and-dine-smoothie/
http://sci-bc.ca/recipes-and-nutrition/rise-and-dine-smoothie/#commentsWed, 06 May 2015 22:40:16 +0000http://sci-bc.ca/?p=12654Smoothies prove that taste doesn't have to be compromised when you're being good to your body. Skip dessert and go for this vitamin-packed yummy alternative!